Hades Level Threat

Leo picked Asher up by the throat, pushing him against a wall.

"I'll spare you from pain. Only if you tell us who you really are."

"I told you too many times. I am a vigilante swordsman, here to fight against the threats when they show up."

Which was the same thing he's been saying for the past 10 minutes.

Louis was honestly getting tired of watching this interrogation.

'Maybe he really is just some weirdo here to help. But, I can't risk believing that. I can tell that he was holding back during our fight. If we let him free now and he turns out to be some criminal, he'll kill one of the others.'

Leo released his grip on Asher's throat, before shoving him away.

"You're still going along with that story?"

"I am telling the truth. I even know their plans. You'll regret not listening to me."

Louis finally came forward, lending an ear.

"I won't let you free, for safety reasons. But i'll hear what you have to say about these plans you mentioned."

Asher nodded, "Here they are: Two dangerous mercenaries were hired for this attack. They both happen to be well known in the underworld for having skill that can rival multiple Royal Knights. Please hear my suggestion too, I think it's best for everyone to relocate. It's not safe here."

A part of that made Louis a bit frightful when thinking of the upcoming attack. Just like Asher's suggestion, Louis remembers when [Question Phase] suggested the same thing, saying [Hint: Something terrible. Don't stay.]

"Well, I believe you. I have a hunch that you're telling the truth. But I'm still skeptical about your strength. I won't remove the magic locks around your hands until everything is settled."

Asher sighed tirelessly, "I'm glad you believe me. However, I don't like the idea of being binded that long. Oh well, It seems there's nothing I can do about it."

Non-related to anything from the conversation, Louis froze as he sensed a very bad feeling. A feeling that felt like the embodiment of something sinister. Louis's heart never thumped so roughly, a cold sweat ran down his face. It was a strong hunch that something was about to happen. Seeing the distrubed Louis, Leo tried to snap him out of it.

"Hey, are you alright? You don't look good, man."

Hoping it was just an episode of anxiety and nothing serious, Louis tried to play it off. After all, there didn't seem to have been anything that happened.

"Yeah, i'm okay. I just spaced out."

"Are you sure you're alright?" Leo asked.

Abruptly, the room door swung open and Indigo came running inside. Her worried face showed that she had some unfortunate news.

"Something happened."

"What's going on?!" Louis asked.

The severity of the situation was visible in her voice as she unfollowed the news. She explained: A sinister man had made an appearance at the front gate and broke through. The first guards on the scene were slaughtered without mercy and with precision. All the guards from the mansion are confronting the man by the fountain area in the guard.

Indigo also went on to give more information.

"Also, Dinae has already locked the barrier, so even the most skilled mages won't be able to come inside. We just need to wait for the guard outside to deal with the man."

Leo acted quickly, and sprinted out of the room. He was acting according to plan. His job was to go get Atares and Ansel. After that, he is going to escort them into the safety labyrinth.

As for Louis, him and the others have to sit around inside and wait for anyone in case they break through the barrier.

Running to the manion's balcony, Louis observed the guards that were approaching the threat. A man dressed in a long velvet cloak. His face was as pale as a corpse. His lips bent into an eerie smile, revealing his fangs.

His posture slowly walked with confidence, before stopping at the sight of seeing many guards approaching him. The man lifted his arms while speaking in amazement.

"Beautiful. Beautiful, beautiful. This must be that private army. It makes my heart jump at seeing each of them lifting their blades, all while bravely running towards me. Such people know the risk of battle, yet they bravely charge. Beautiful...I truly feel for you all."

One swell swipe of his hand, and a giant invisible hammer dropped down on the force of guards.

Smash!

All of their bodies were smashed into a mess of red and black liquids.

Louis's eyes opened in dread at the gruesome view of slaughter.

The pale man hadn't even shown any hint of challenge. Whatever he just did, it wasn't any kind of magic. It had to be an ability, one that could surely rival even the greatest of abilities.

'Who the hell is that man?...'

Louis' body was nearly shaking. Not because he was scared, but rather, he was worried about everyone else. Could they even survive someone like that. Louis thought of a military term, describing the pale-man's level of power.

'Hades.'

While in the military, they gave a certain level of threats a name.

{Goblin- A threat that even untrained commoners can face off against.

Ogre- A threat capable of rivaling a whole platoon of knight's

Ork- A threat that needs attention of the military's best knight's

Demon- a threat needing the attention of a Royal Knight

Hades- A threat needing the attention of 3 or more Royal Knight's

Death Angel- A threat to multiple an entire kingdom or the world.}

Giving the threat level of Hades was no exaggeration. Even multiple Royal Knight's could lose to him, due to there being no information on how his ability works.

The man then approached the barrier. He tried to make his way through it, but was blocked out.

"Agh, stupid thing. Let me through,", the man ranted while kicking at the barrier with force. Still, it didn't falter and wasn't even close to being broken.

Louis sighed, "Good. Looks like he doesn't know much about barriers. That means there's lots of time. I need to tell the others about his strength. We need to form a plan. There's no way we're winning without a good one."

Getting everyone in a single room, Louis spoke on what he witnessed.

"So, about our threat. That man out there...I think his power is a Hades level threat."

Leo jolted, "A hades level threat You do know how strong that is, right? Are you sure it's not an exaggeration?"

Louis's expression was still in shock, recalling how 45 guards were easily killed.

"I saw him kill that force of guards with no effort. I know what I saw! We need to come up with a plan fast! If he somehow finds a way through that barrier, I don't think any of us will be able to stop him."

Diane, rushed over to the desk, pulling out a paper and pencil, then asked to know more.

"In which kind of way did he deal with our guards? We need to know about his combat style."

Louis tried his best to put it into words.

"He has some sort of ability that puts him in control of a giant hammer. The hammer also moves without him touching it, so there's that. When it comes to how he fights with his hands or what kind of magic he uses, I'm clueless."

Diane looked at her notes with an intensely focused face. She couldn't think of a good plan from the top of her head.

"If that's everything you know about him, we'll be at a big disadvantage. If he gains cases inside, we'll be forced to fight him. If his power is really a Hades level threat, our chances of winning would be very slim."

Louis agreed by slowly nodding, he was also in thought, "There's no doubt about that. In our numbers right now, our loss is almost guaranteed."

That serious emotion on everybody's face only grew as they all sat in silence. Nobody had a plan that wouldn't result in a few of themselves dying.

They had already made a distress signal into town. If they could hold out in the mansion for at least 30 minutes, help should have already arrived. Louis could only hope they would send enough help to succeed. But if the man outside of the mansion happens to find a way inside, they needed a plan for that as it was more likely to happen. Louis had a good hunch that would be the case.

"Any ideas?" Diane asked the room.

Each of them shook their heads, replying with a simple, "No."

But, Louis actually did have an idea. But, it's not anything that guaranteed their success. Still, it would increase their odds of victory by a lot.

"Actually, I have an idea. Wanna hear it?"